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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Alcoholism and health journalist, author Scott Stevens, is launching a series of educational video vignettes to increase awareness of the health consequences of the drug, alcohol. View the :30 teaser. The 26 videos, called The A-Files, will appear daily throughout Alcohol Awareness Month. (related article)Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month. The goals of the annual observance are to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma, and encourage local communities to focus on alcohol-related issues. Stevens, author of three alcoholism recovery books, has been participating in Alcohol Awareness Month activities since 2010, through various web campaigns, media appearances and public seminars.Each of the two-minute videos will post daily, except Sundays, at 8 a.m., CDT, on YouTube, Alcohologist.com, AddictedMinds.com, Examiner.com, and on the Alcohology Books Facebook page, as well as Scott Stevens' LinkedIn page. The schedule for the videos:

Beyond the disease of alcoholism, alcohol use leads to or worsens more
than 50 other diseases and kills 89,000 people in the U.S. every year.
It's the third-leading cause of preventable illness and death according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
in 2015. "You cannot take the relaxation value of alcohol without the
side effects," according to Stevens. "Do you know why insurers probe
about your drinking history? Because people die from alcohol, even
social use. It shortens life expectancy by 10-12 years. People who don’t
die sooner from wrecks, home accidents or poisoning still have a
statistically significant rate or illness risk, even long after
abstaining because alcohol is a toxin, and alcohol is listed by the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a known carcinogen. ."
Stevens notes as more Americans recognize these two traits of alcohol in
the coming decade, the alcohol industry's 'Drink Responsibly'
catchphrase loses its practicality. "It's a leap of logic to believe one
can responsibly or moderately consume a toxin and known carcinogen."